Marco Rubio meets Pope Leo amid tensions with Trump over Iran war

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, amid growing tensions after President Donald Trump repeatedly attacked the Catholic leader over the war with Iran.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said Rubio’s meeting with Leo was a sign of the “strong” relationship between the Vatican and the United States. The Vatican had no immediate comment on the meeting.

Leo, the first American pope, drew Trump’s ire after staunchly criticizing the Iran war and the Trump administration’s hard-line anti-immigration policies. Trump criticized Leo, saying the pope was “weak on crime.”